"Driving" Licences

[Admiral]

\"Driving\" Licences

I was reading on another web site today that the Swedish government is considering bringing in mandatory driving licences for all boating people, both motor and sail!!
How long I wonder before our lot do the same?

 

[Sgeir]

Im OK,

already have a driving licence and only three penalty points.

 

[jenku]

Re: \"Driving\" Licences

In fact, it's a parliament committee that has asked the parliament to ask the government to investigate the issue. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Also, it's the same committee that did not want the parliament to investigate the Estonia disaster again, mainly because there are a few members in this committee who also are on the board of Swedish equivalent to the MCA (Sjöfartsverket) who made the first investigation, the one that claimed that Estonia sunk because of water entering the car deck (which of course is impossible as she then would have turtled before sinking which she did not).

However, Parliament overruled the committee on the Estonia issue, so there will be a new Estonia investigation. I did not succeed to get any info about the compulsory licensing issue though. Most probably there was no decision yet and the issue still awaits to be discussed.

BTW There is a somewhat more concrete proposal from Sjöfartsverket about how this licensing should be done, and it is, of course, based on the idea that a central register for pleasure boats would be nice to have (in order to be able to tax boats I guess...). The licensing is proposed not at all for all boats, but for boats longer than 7 m and cabable of speeds more than 7 knots. This means still that most smaller sailboats would not need licensing.